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Congenital Critical Heart Defect Screening in a Health Area of the Community of Valencia (Spain): A Prospective

Elena Cubells1, Begoña Torres2, Antonio Nuñez-Ramiro1

  • 1Division of Neonatology, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, 46026 Valencia, Spain.

International Journal of Neonatal Screening
|October 19, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Pulse oximetry screening effectively detects critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) in newborns before hospital discharge. This vital tool prevents severe cardiac complications and readmissions, enhancing infant safety in maternity wards.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal Medicine
  • Pediatric Cardiology
  • Public Health Screening

Background:

  • Despite advances, undetected critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) leads to severe neonatal complications.
  • Neonatal physical exams and fetal echocardiography have limitations in identifying all CCHD cases.
  • Inadvertent hospital discharge of affected infants poses significant risks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the incidence of undetected CCHD using pulse oximetry screening.
  • To assess the effectiveness of pulse oximetry in maternity wards with Perinatal Services.
  • To determine the role of pulse oximetry in preventing early neonatal cardiac complications.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective observational study in Valencia's health area maternity wards.
  • Screening of eligible newborns with negative fetal echocardiography and normal physical exams.
  • Implementation of a specific pulse oximetry protocol before infant discharge.

Main Results:

  • 8856 newborns were screened; 3 had severe congenital cardiac malformations.
  • 2 infants presented with early-onset sepsis.
  • Pulse oximetry demonstrated 100% sensitivity and 99.97% specificity for CCHD detection.

Conclusions:

  • Pulse oximetry screening is a valuable tool for early CCHD detection in neonates.
  • Screening programs can prevent inadvertent discharge of infants with severe cardiac defects.
  • This method significantly reduces the risk of life-threatening complications in the neonatal period.

Keywords:
critical congenital heart diseasenewbornoxygen saturationpulse oximetryscreening

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